The Apprentice
by Queen Ape
Summary: Old wizard Malcolm trains his apprentice. Based on a real battle.


Disclaimer: The spell sand creatures mentioned within are property of Wizards of the Coast.  
  
The Apprentice  
  
Malcolm stood opposite his apprentice, Arylanda. He had been training her for the past two years, he could see that he was eager to prove herself ready to handle magic in the outside world on her own. She could summon creatures and make them do her bidding with ease. At first she did have trouble overdrawing mana and inevitably hurt herself doing it, but those rocky stages had all but passed.  
  
"Arylanda, I wish for you to go first." Malcolm said, gesturing at his study. She drew from red and green mana sources, true to her nature. She was passionate, had a tendency to act before thinking and she had this deep affinity for nature. When she wasn't training she was off in the woods, talking to the animal life that lived there. Once she had returned to Malcolm's complex with a herd of deer trailing behind her.  
  
Malcolm on the other hand, drew blue and black mana. He was critical thinking, he thought out every possibility before he made his move. He liked to be able to manipulate both people and situations to best suit his needs.  
  
Arylanda nodded and then sent her mind out of the complex, and into the forest that surrounded it. She drew enough mana from it to summon the Throne of Bone into existence. She sat in it, smirked and said:  
  
"Now you go, Teach."  
  
Hardly afraid of what his student might do to him, Malcolm took his time. He simply found himself an island he could draw mana from later on. He nodded to signal to Arylanda, who promptly followed her mentor's example and secured herself a mountain; a volcano a few miles away.  
  
Malcolm felt the edge of the fabric of space and time to see what he had available to him. Nothing seemed to be readily available to him, but he had expected that, so he settled on finding a swamp for himself.  
  
Arylanda found for herself a forest further than the one outside the complex, then drew on the mana of all the land she had so far acquired. She summoned a trained armodon, who started to stomp out of the portal she had created. Malcolm shook his head.  
  
"I don't think so young one." He said, while power sinking her mana. She lost her hold on the portal, and the Trained Armodon was no more.  
  
"Humph." Arylanda snorted, making fists with her hands in frustration.   
  
The older wizard found himself another island, then retested the boundaries of the fabric of space and time. There was a creature there, if it was a weak one. Malcolm wondered if maybe he was starting to lose his touch in his old age. He opened a portal, and a cephalid pathmage stepped through. Arylanda started to laugh.  
  
"What is that puny creature going to do?!" She said, pointing at the newly summoned octopus wizard.  
  
"My dear," Malcolm replied. "That creature is unblockable. So even if you had a creature, you still couldn't stop it."  
  
"It's still puny." Arylanda snorted. Secretly Malcolm agreed. The apprentice summoned another creature, this time a lone wolf.   
  
"He he, try blocking that!" She announced.  
  
"I don't have to." Malcolm replied, because after he found another swamp he cast the spell Dark Banishing on it, killing the wolf instantly.  
  
"No fair! You keep killing my creatures!" Arylanda whined. Malcolm ignored her petulance and sent the pathmage to attack her. It whipped her with one of it's tentacles and then returned to Malcolm's side. Arylanda summoned both a copper myr and a cinder wall. Malcolm looked at her, to the wall, and then back to Arylanda again.  
  
"Why summon the wall?" He asked.  
  
"So I can block the pathmage...DAMN!" She said, realizing her mistake. Malcolm shook his head, found another swamp, and after feeling no creatures on hand for him again, sent the octopus to attack.   
  
"Never mind, watch this!" Cried Arylanda as she cast Giant Growth on the little myr, beefing it up for a short time. She sent the artifact creature to attack him, sending her to the lead. Malcolm found himself an other island, found creatures deserting him yet again, and sent the pathmage to attack. Afterwards Arylanda rubbed her arm where the octopus had whipped her.  
  
"That is starting to get annoying." She grumbled, finding herself another forest and motioning to Malcolm to continue.   
  
"Just one question Arylanda. Why didn't you attack my with your myr? You know the pathmage cannot attack and block on the same turn..." Malcolm chuckled, finding himself another swamp. He had started to get himself a serious mana pool. He was also relieved when he checked for creatures, a large one was waiting to be summoned. A great whale moved through the portal, making Arylanda a little nervous. Then he sent the pathmage to attack.  
  
"We should be about draw again Arylanda."  
  
She snorted, and checked to see what creatures were waiting for her. She was shocked to find she had none.   
  
Malcolm chuckled again and found yet another swamp, and then attacked with both creatures he had under his control. Instead of taking the danger from the larger whale, Arylanda blocked it with her wall. The whale was hurt, but not enough to kill it, and the cinderwall itself was destroyed. The faithful pathmage hit its target.  
  
Arylanda was getting more and more agitated, she let her concentration slip, accidently revealing to Malcolm some spells she had on standby.  
  
"Wing Snare eh? Best not summon a creature with flying then..." Malcolm said, agitating the girl even more. Drawing mana from all her sources, including her myr, she brought into existence a myr matrix.   
  
"Nice artifact there girl." Malcolm said, casting Confiscate. A blue beam of light shot straight from Malcolm's outstretched hand to the matrix. It traveled along the beam, to rest by Malcolm's feet. He then attacked with both his creatures and as Arylanda had nothing to block with, they hit home.  
  
The apprentice was starting to look a little worse for wear. She searched frantically for creatures, but came up blank again. Malcolm in turn found another island and summoned another creature, a wall of vapor. Suddenly Malcolm's half of the room was shrouded in mist. He doubted he would need this wall, judging by the way the battle was going. He instructed the matrix to make something more useful to him, a myr. He then attacked with the pathmage and the whale, which Arylanda blocked with her only remaining creature, the myr. Her creature died, leaving her wide open for attack.  
  
She searched desperately for a creature, and when she came up blank, she accepted defeat. There was no reason for her mentor to run her into the ground with all three creatures he controlled. She climbed of her throne (which she had forgotten to use when she had the chance) and stormed out of the room.  
  
Malcolm chuckled. She had lost because she simply hadn't enough mana. She still had a lot to learn before her graduation battle. 


End file.
